Today we started off our day with breakfast at the hotel and then headed on our way to Quilotoa. During our ride Dr. Theofilios had started to discuss a little bit about volcanoes in Ecuador. He said how the only mega-fault on Earth that goes through Guayaquil, Quito, & Venezuela, which makes Ecuador one of the most dangerous countries in the case of volcanoes and seismic activity. In Ecuador there are more than 250 volcanoes in which 19 of them are active. In the Galapagos Islands there are more than 3,000 volcanoes in which 17 of them are active. Its crazy to think about how seismically active both of these places are and yet we were able to visit them. On our way to Quilotoa we stopped and saw how some of the indigenous people live. They had built their own houses, made from wood and rocks and much more. The way they live was so crazy to me. They have guinea pigs (that they eventually eat) roaming around their house to eat any bugs, they leave spider webs so they can catch the flies, the smoke from fire seals the roof which makes their roof water proof, and they have a bed that is probably about the size of a twin bed that four people will sleep in. The house that we had seen has been there for 40 years and the roof has not changed.
Our next stop on our way to Quilotoa was Canyon Del Rio Toachip. We only stayed here for a few minutes but this canyon was formed by erosion. It was a beautiful site and it really reminded me of when I visited the Grand Canyon, nothing can top the Grand Canyon though. After stopping at this canyon we ate lunch and then headed down into Quilotoa. Learning about Quilotoa was so interesting to me, because it is not what you would expect a volcano to look like. When you think of a volcano you think of magma flowing and shooting out, well Quilotoa is a gas explosion which is just as deadly. Quilotoa is being studied to see what is going on in the volcano and being mapped for the gasses. Right now there is no danger of Quilotoa erupting, but Quilotoa is the third most active volcano in Ecuador. The eruption can kill 1,800 people and 72,000 animals. All the houses built in the area have been built in last five to six years. After learning a little bit about Quilotoa we were able to go into the volcano. It was a pretty quick walk down. Since it was very steep and sandy, we basically ran down the whole time. After a short photoshoot inside the volcano it was time start heading back up. We were actually allowed to ride donkeys back up which was kind of scary because they would walk towards the edges of the mountains so we thought we were going to fall off. After the scary ride up we finally made it back up to the top.
After our hike down Quilotoa we headed back to the hotel. It was a long drive again but we all pretty much slept the whole time. After we got back from the hotel we had a short presentation by Dr. Theoflios who discussed volcanology in Ecuador. After Dr. Theoflios's presentation we all went to dinner at the restaurant in the hotel. This restaurant took forever to do everything. Taylor and I ordered pasta and it took over an hour to get our food, so by time we ate it was already almost 12 o'clock!!
Extra Research:
Indigenous People There are 14 indigenous groups living in Ecuador which accounts for 1.1 million of the countries total population. The indigenous groups vary from the Amazon to the Galapagos Islands to the Mountains. The indigenous people have struggled when it comes to the exploitation of oil in the area where they are living. This killing the area where they live in which affects they way that they live. https://www.iwgia.org/en/ecuador.html